KABUL, Afghanistan >> A
series of security problems and difficult fractures in relations with
Afghan leaders plagued Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first trip here
as Pentagon chief, including the Afghan president's accusations that the
U.S. and the Taliban are working in concert to show that violence in
the country will worsen if most coalition troops leave.

The top
U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph Dunford, quickly rejected the
charges President Hamid Karzai made today as "categorically false."
But the accusations were just the latest in a series of disputes that
have frayed relations between the two nations as the U.S. works to wind
down the war and turn the country's security over to the Afghans.

Speaking
to reporters shortly after Karzai made the comments, Dunford said the
Afghan leader has never expressed such views to him but said it was
understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the
need to complete its mission with the Afghans' move to exercise more
sovereignty.

"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we
have shed too much blood over the past 12 years, we have done too much
to help the Afghan security forces grow over the last 12 years to ever
think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," said
Dunford.

Dunford's comments came, however, soon after U.S.
officials cancelled a news conference with Hagel and Karzai because of a
security threat — just a day after a suicide bomber on a bicycle struck
outside the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing nine Afghan civilians and
wounding 14 others. Hagel heard the explosion from the safe location
where he was meeting with Afghan officials but was never in danger.

The
security problems compounded a series of flare-ups in recent weeks,
including a dispute that has stalled the transfer of a U.S. prison to
Afghan authority as well as Karzai's order to expel U.S. special
operations forces out of Wardak province, which lies just outside the
capital, because of allegations that Afghans working with the commandos
were involved in abusive behavior.

Hagel and Karzai still planned
to meet privately today, and some of the ongoing issues were likely to
come up. The U.S. and Afghan leaders are in the midst of negotiations
over the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan beyond the
end of 2014, when all combat troops are scheduled to leave.

U.S.
officials would not provide details on the security concerns that led to
cancelling the news conference. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. But
Pentagon press secretary George Little said the cancellation was not due
to Karzai's earlier comments about the U.S. and the Taliban.

During
a nationally televised speech, Karzai said two suicide bombings that
killed 19 people on Saturday — the one outside the Afghan Defense
Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost
province — show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show
that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after
their current combat mission ends in 2014.

"The explosions in
Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America
and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us
into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would
be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during the speech about the
state of Afghan women.

Karzai is known for making incendiary
comments in his public speeches. And Dunford on Sunday said that some of
the recent disputes between the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan leaders
"strike at the heart of sovereignty" and could be more political in
nature. He said Karzai may be doing what he needs to do to communicate
with the Afghan people and their political leaders outside the
government.

Dunford also rejected the suggestion that the recent friction reflects an erosion in the U.S. relationship with Afghanistan.

"We
do not have a broken relationship, we do not have a lack of trust,"
said Dunford, adding that none of the political dust-ups have bled over
into his dealings with his Afghan security force counterparts. He said
efforts to train and advise the Afghan security forces have continued
and that plans for them to be in the lead for security across the
country later this summer are on track.

Dunford would not detail
why the scheduled transfer of the Parwan Detention Center was delayed
again and called it a difference in perspective. But he made clear that
the U.S. believes it must retain the power to insure that detainees who
are deemed to be security threats remain in custody.

Currently,
there is an Afghan administrator of the prison, which is located about
an hour outside the capital, but the Americans have veto power over the
release of detainees. The prisoners held under American authority do not
have the right to a trial because the U.S. considers them detainees
held as part of an ongoing conflict.

Regarding the move to expel
the special operations forces, Dunford said he spoke to Karzai about the
issue on Saturday and told him the U.S. is working on a plan to
transition security in the Wardak region to Afghan forces. He would not
directly say whether the commandos will stay in Wardak when the
deadline to leave comes on Monday. But he said Karzai knows they are
working on the plan and has not yet issued a directive to the force.

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kailua000wrote:

the man is losing it. or else it is interfering with his drug enterprise

on March 10,2013 | 04:13AM

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alliewrote:

Bush's war was a total loss for America. We wasted billions and every life lost-Afghan and American-was for nothing. Iraq was even worse

on March 10,2013 | 09:47AM

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mulenwrote:

Chavez arises!

on March 10,2013 | 08:54AM

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hanalei395wrote:

This comment has been deleted.

on March 10,2013 | 09:09AM

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alliewrote:

Reagan's botched the entire thing. He was a bad a President as Bush

on March 10,2013 | 09:47AM

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Bumbywrote:

The money that flows to the defense industry which make companies that supply war efforts collude with whomever. Why because too much money involved. How come the U.S. is always in a fight somewhere around the world? Are there that many people and governments that are bad and scrupulous? Where is the next conflict to take place? Spreading more hate than goodwill when most American people and most people around the world has good intentions to live in peace.

on March 10,2013 | 09:20AM

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amelawrote:

If they want our military presence why can't they pay to offset our cos? And don't tell me they don't have the money.